Miles upgrade and CDC

I am sorry if this has been answered before but I was hoping someone might be able to give me some quick answers on this.

I am buying a return to LAX for travel in NOV09(I know that it is not in the GDS yet but I am getting everything ready for when the seats come in) and I have a few questions!
1 - I am buying an economy ticket but I only want to upgrade the outbound leg to upper so can I buy L class out and discounted economy (N or X) back?
2 - Does the ticket have to be booked direct with Virgin FC or can I book it through my travel agent in the correct classes and then call Virgin to upgrade?
3 - I want to add a CDC as I won't be doing any more trips for a while and need to use up my miles but I am a few thousand miles off so won't have the rest for a couple more months. Does the CDC paid for with miles have to be done at the time of booking?
4 - There will be two of us travelling so do we both have to pay 15,000 miles for CDC or just one payment per PNR?

I think that's all! Thank you in advance.

Ed

[Neil]

1) yes you can buy L outbound and another class back, depending on availability of course.
2) if you book through a travel agent then any upgrades would have to be done via them. Also if you want to use miles to upgrade then AFAIK this has to be done through VS, so your easiest option is to do everything through Virgin
3) You can add a CDC to a G booking at any time, it doesn't have to be done at the time of booking
4) You will only need to spend the 12,500 miles once for a one way CDC, but you will both be able to use it

Neil

Para 3 - Unless your booking is a full miles redemption one i.e. a 'G' booking rather than a miles upgrade, yon will be unable to book a CDC with miles.

Regards,

Hackneyguy

[preiffer]

Minor notes:

Originally posted by Neil
2) if you book through a travel agent then any upgrades would have to be done via them. Also if you want to use miles to upgrade then AFAIK this has to be done through VS, so your easiest option is to do everything through Virgin
3) You can add a CDC to a G booking at any time, it doesn't have to be done at the time of booking
4) You will only need to spend the 12,500 miles once for a one way CDC, but you will both be able to use it

2) You CAN upgrade a TA booking with miles as long as it's in the correct class. It's the super-cheap consolidator fares that can't be changed by VS.
3) Within reason. It will certainly need 24 hours' notice, maybe more for a mileage one. But correct, it doesn't have to be done at the time of booking.
4) There is a limit to number of passengers/bags per CDC, but for two of you you'll be fine.

Originally posted by hackneyguy
Para 3 - Unless your booking is a full miles redemption one i.e. a 'G' booking rather than a miles upgrade, yo will be unable to book a CDC with miles.

Incorrect. ANY G booking (whether an upgrade or outright reward) can have a CDC booked against it for miles.

[Neil]

Originally posted by preiffer

2) You CAN upgrade a TA booking with miles as long as it's in the correct class. It's the super-cheap consolidator fares that can't be changed by VS.

Didn't realise that, always thought miles had to be done direct, interesting to know. I am guessing it isn't possible with say a expedia/last minute.com booking, or is it?

VS however should be the cheapest as they do have a best price garauntee.

Neil

Originally posted by preiffer
Minor notes:

Originally posted by Neil
2) if you book through a travel agent then any upgrades would have to be done via them. Also if you want to use miles to upgrade then AFAIK this has to be done through VS, so your easiest option is to do everything through Virgin
3) You can add a CDC to a G booking at any time, it doesn't have to be done at the time of booking
4) You will only need to spend the 12,500 miles once for a one way CDC, but you will both be able to use it

2) You CAN upgrade a TA booking with miles as long as it's in the correct class. It's the super-cheap consolidator fares that can't be changed by VS.
3) Within reason. It will certainly need 24 hours' notice, maybe more for a mileage one. But correct, it doesn't have to be done at the time of booking.
4) There is a limit to number of passengers/bags per CDC, but for two of you you'll be fine.

Originally posted by hackneyguy
Para 3 - Unless your booking is a full miles redemption one i.e. a 'G' booking rather than a miles upgrade, yo will be unable to book a CDC with miles.

Incorrect. ANY G booking (whether an upgrade or outright reward) can have a CDC booked against it for miles.

Thanks for that clarrification re: CDC. I am aware my sister tried this recently and was refused but on second thoughts this may be because my family lives in Yorkshire and outside of the strict radius of miles entitlement.

One day I may try and use some miles myself and try it from London or Essex.

Regards,

Hackneyguy

[HighFlyer]

I am guessing it isn't possible with say a expedia/last minute.com booking, or is it?

You can check what fare code flights on Expedia book into before you book them, just hit the 'Read an overview of all the rules and restrictions applicable to this fare' link towards the bottom of the page once you are reviewing a fare (for totally non-flexible/refundable flights it sometimes doesnt show that link and explicitly says 'non-refundable, no changes, etc). Its one of the redeeming features of Expedia for me. Not sure about Last Minute as I dont use them.

I'd assume (or at least hope) that a TA would be able to tell you the fare code booked for your flight.

Thanks,
Sarah

Ohh, very exciting, thank you all for your replies.
I think that i will go ahead and hold the seats with my TA as soon as they become available and then talk to FC as soon as I issue my ticket.
Do you know if there is any way to check G-class availability? Is it just calling FC and checking every so often?
I presume that if I am doing this a year in advance then it should be fine....

[Scrooge]

If you have enough miles in your account you can log into VS.com and just run a fake booking, it's a good way to see if there are G's for the flight you are looking for, be prepared for it to say no.

Personally I have found calling flying club a lot quicker and easier as they can look and see when the closest dates are quicker than you can on the site.

[Neil]

Originally posted by Scrooge
If you have enough miles in your account you can log into VS.com and just run a fake booking, it's a good way to see if there are G's for the flight you are looking for, be prepared for it to say no.

You can still do that/check reward bookings even if you don't have enough miles in your account, just can't book them!. Although like Scrooge says it is often much quicker and more productive to just call FC, especially if you are looking at a popular destination/time.

Neil

[Scrooge]

You can ? when in the past I have tried it tells me that I don't/didn't have enough miles. Is the US site different in this regard to the UK one ?

[Neil]

Originally posted by Scrooge
You can ? when in the past I have tried it tells me that I don't/didn't have enough miles. Is the US site different in this regard to the UK one ?

Maybe the UK and US are different then. I often search for rewards I haven't got enough miles for yet. All it says at the top of the page showing the availability is that 'you will need xxx amount of miles for this booking'.

Neil

Originally posted by Neil

Originally posted by Scrooge
You can ? when in the past I have tried it tells me that I don't/didn't have enough miles. Is the US site different in this regard to the UK one ?

Maybe the UK and US are different then. I often search for rewards I haven't got enough miles for yet. All it says at the top of the page showing the availability is that 'you will need xxx amount of miles for this booking'.

Neil

It now seems to work OK from both UK and US sites but until fairly recently neither site would let you view a dummy booking unless you had enough miles for the whole mileage needed (for example if you were looking at 2 Gs LHR-JFK you needed 180,000 in your account to be able to request and view availability).It still won't show you taxes and surcharges though, as that's on the next page (which you have to have enough miles to view).

[Scrooge]

Oh ok, it's been a while since I have looked for a reward flight.

I just tried a dummy booking, it do show the taxes etc and amazingly there were G's for my flights ! That has to be a first.